Afraid of NATO killing civilians in Libya? The New York Times editorial page (4/8/11) sees the way forwardby ramping up the war:

There is a much better option: the American A-10 and AC-130 aircraft used earlier in the Libya fighting and still on standby status….

But no other country has aircraft comparable to AmericaÃƒÆ’Â¢ÃƒÂ¢”Å¡Â¬ÃƒÂ¢”Å¾Â¢s A-10, which is known as the Warthog, designed to attack tanks and other armored vehicles, or to the AC-130 ground-attack gunship, which is ideally suited for carefully sorting out targets in populated areas.

AC-130s were used frequently in the Iraq War, particularly in the bloody fight in the city of Fallujah–whichwas notoften characterized by the careful sorting of targets. The Timesestablished a record of downplaying the civilian deaths there, which might help explain why their editorial page has such faith inthecareful sorting properties oftheseaircraft.

Activism Director and and Co-producer of CounterSpinPeter Hart is the activism director at FAIR. He writes for FAIR's magazine Extra! and is also a co-host and producer of FAIR's syndicated radio show CounterSpin. He is the author of The Oh Really? Factor: Unspinning Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly (Seven Stories Press, 2003). Hart has been interviewed by a number of media outlets, including NBC Nightly News, Fox News Channel's O'Reilly Factor, the Los Angeles Times, Newsday and the Associated Press. He has also appeared on Showtime and in the movie Outfoxed. Follow Peter on Twitter at @peterfhart.

Am not surprised at all by the NYTimes…but am surprised and disappointed by the supposedly liberal DemocracyNow…beating the drums of war…and becoming a mouthpiece for this administration. Their reporters are in bed with the rebels. They have never reported on the summarily execution of black African immigrants by the democracy-seeking rebels, or the reports of the US and Britain bombing Libyan hospitals, clinics, civilian infrastructures. DemocracyNow has never questioned who the rebels are or their ties to and support of the CIA, nor have they reported as RT.com has done those rebels who fought and killed US military in Iraq.

From BlackAgendaReport:

Numerous reports from migrant workers who escaped from rebel-held areas indicate hundreds of black Africans have been lynched, including black Libyan citizens. (See ÃƒÆ’Â¢ÃƒÂ¢”Å¡Â¬Ãƒâ€¦“Race and Arab Nationalism in Libya,ÃƒÆ’Â¢ÃƒÂ¢”Å¡Â¬Ãƒâ€šÂ BAR, March 9.) A Turkish oil worker related an especially horrific account to NPR: ÃƒÆ’Â¢ÃƒÂ¢”Å¡Â¬Ãƒâ€¦“We left behind our friends from Chad. We left behind their bodies,ÃƒÆ’Â¢ÃƒÂ¢”Å¡Â¬Ãƒâ€šÂ he said. ÃƒÆ’Â¢ÃƒÂ¢”Å¡Â¬Ãƒâ€¦“We had 70 or 80 people from Chad working for our company. They cut them dead with pruning shears and axes, attacking them, saying you're providing troops for Gadhafi. The Sudanese, the Chadians were massacred. We saw it ourselves.ÃƒÆ’Â¢ÃƒÂ¢”Å¡Â¬Ãƒâ€šÂ

Barb, you are misleading us. I read the article that you got your info from. It is not just a rebel problem, the Libyans as a group have done all this mistreatment you speak of, not just the rebels. And yet you accuse Democracy Now of not reporting the whole truth. What about you?

I do not agree so much with more US involvement in wars to solve problems and I'm not sure where I stand on the efforts to protect the Libyans who oppose Gaddafi. Where was everyone when there were killings in Darfur and the Sudan and Rwanda and in so many other oppressive countries even today it is going on in other African countries, with their dictators? At the very least Saudi Arabia should be condemned for attacking protesters in Baharain. And why allow Yemeni sharp shooters to pick off protesters?
The issues are complex and you should treat them that way, instead of oversimplifying it into rebels versus immigrants and that no one is paying attention to these issues.
By the way. what is your solution? Let protesters die at the hands of Qadafi's military? Which they surely would have if left to their own devices before Obama took action.

hasnt everybody already noticed that the NY Times is just a mouthpiece of the usa gov? they report only what the gov wants u to think. the gov is much happier if u dont think at all, and they have obviously gotten their wish. if americans had 2 brain cells and even a tiny shred of conscience, they would immediately walk out of mcdonalds and insist those immoral wars for oil stop. americans r just fat, lazy, stupid swaggering redneck cowboys who dont give a dam how many people they kill. you dont even know. that goes for your loud mouth right and your pontificating, do nothing left.
yeah, the world really admires you meat head schoolyard bullies